Arizona to Honor California Medical Cannabis Recommendations
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]W[/dropcap]hile highway patrols in some states prey on drivers with out-of-state licenses from states with legal medical cannabis, Arizona officials will now recognize California-issued medical cannabis recommendations. According to The Associated Press, on March 15, a three-judge panel in Arizona’s Court of Appeals ruled to allow patients with a valid California doctor’s recommendation to have legal access to medical cannabis while they are in Arizona.
It began with a 2016 traffic stop involving Stanley Kemmish Jr., a California resident who received a doctor’s recommendation for medical cannabis.
According to prosecutors, Kemmish’s physician’s letter doesn’t equate to having a valid Arizona medical cannabis ID card. The Court of Appeals, however, ruled that having an out-of-state doctor’s recommendation makes Kemmish a “visiting qualifying patient” under Arizona law.
The panel upheld a La Paz County Superior Court judge’s dismissal of drug possession charges against Kemmish. Kemmish was awarded legal immunity from Arizona laws that typically don’t offer reciprocity to doctor’s recommendations from other states.
The ruling means that other out-of-state medical cannabis patients qualify for legal immunity while they are traveling through Arizona. According to the ruling, Kemmish is a California resident, but La Paz County online court records provided an address in Laveen, Arizona.
The Arizona Department of Health Services Division of Public Health Licensing offers medical cannabis cards for Arizona residents. Patients are then stored in a state registry.
Other states with reciprocity laws to accommodate medical cannabis patients from other states include Nevada, Maine, Michigan, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Having reciprocity laws, however, doesn’t always mean you can purchase cannabis in those states at dispensaries.
Arizona’s latest ruling opens up the doors to card-holding tourists from California, Nevada and other neighboring states with medical cannabis programs.
